-
Title
-
Archaeological Investigations of Three Additional Sites in the Claiborne Lock and Dam Reservoir
-
Date
-
1969
-
Bibliographic Citation
-
Nielsen, Jerry J. 1969. Archaeological Investigations of Three Additional Sites in the Claiborne Lock and Dam Reservoir. Appendix A in A Preliminary Report of Salvage Archaeology in the Claiborne Lock and Dam Reservoir, by J. Bennett Graham. Report submitted to the National Park Service, Department of Anthropology, University of Alabama.
-
annotates
-
• This report presents test excavations of sites 1MN8, 1MN10, 1MN10x1, and 1MN11, located along the Alabama River , conducted between 1967 and 1968.
• The investigation aimed to supplement prior salvage archaeology in the area by documenting ceramic sequences, lithic use, shell midden formation, and site stratigraphy.
• The work is appended to Graham’s earlier synthesis of regional cultural phases, and emphasizes Weeden Island–Coles Creek, Alabama River, and Mississippian cultural affiliations.
• Choctaw are not named explicitly, but the ceramic types, site locations, and postcontact burial urn references are relevant for CRM contexts involving ancestral Choctaw presence:
o Alabama River Series ceramics—present at 1MN10x1—have been associated in later literature with late Mississippian/Postcontact Indigenous societies in southwest Alabama, some of which are ancestral to the Choctaw or closely affiliated Muskogean groups.
o These implications are especially important in the Alabama–Tombigbee confluence region, where Choctaw territory expanded or overlapped with other Mississippian-descended populations in the late 17th and 18th centuries.
• 1MN10x1: The most significant of the four sites, yielding a deeply stratified shell midden with two major Woodland and postcontact occupational episodes.
o Stratigraphy includes multiple soil zones and flooding layers, with cultural deposits as deep as 16.5 feet below surface.
o Site integrity was high at the time of investigation, though erosion was advancing rapidly due to reservoir construction.
• 1MN8: A likely significant site destroyed by dam-related construction.
o Surface finds included sand-tempered ceramics, check-stamped sherds, and Tallahatta sandstone flakes, interpreted as Middle Woodland to Middle Mississippian occupations.
• 1MN10: Likely a Tallahatta sandstone quarry with no ceramics and limited cultural material, which due to the absence of ceramics is interpreted as an Archaic period occupation.
• 1MN11: Originally documented with abundant lithic debris, but vegetation obscured the site during 1968 testing. A single test unit yielded little material and interpreted as early Indigenous lithic activity.
• The report reflects 1960s salvage archaeology norms:
o Strong focus on ceramic taxonomy, stratigraphic descriptions, and phase assignment, with little engagement with Indigenous identities or descendant community perspectives.
o Burial urns are discussed clinically and in aesthetic terms, without consideration of cultural or ceremonial significance.
• A decolonizing critique would:
o Highlight the potential spiritual and ancestral importance of urn burial contexts, especially those featuring paired vessels with Alabama River and Wilcox typologies.
o Frame the Alabama River Phase not as a post-Mississippian decline, but as a resilient adaptation to colonial disruption, with possible Choctaw affiliations.
o Call for consultation with Choctaw and other descendant nations before re-excavating or interpreting urn or mound sites in the region.
CRM Utility Assessment, Moderately useful:
o Strong for ceramic and stratigraphic reference, especially for sites in the Claiborne–Millers Ferry area.
o Useful for recognizing urn burial ceramic configurations, midden layering, and Alabama River Plain diagnostics.
o Limitations: No tribal consultation, cultural sensitivity, or NAGPRA framework and some key interpretations (e.g., Cottier’s urn complex) are only secondarily referenced
• Recommendation:
o Revisit this data when evaluating sites with paired vessel burials, Alabama River/Wilcox pottery, or deep shell midden layers along the lower Alabama River.
o Always seek descendant consultation for further work on these sites.
-
owner
-
sprice@wiregrassarchaeology.com